


Deja Vu

by Forever_Powerless



Category: Arthur kingsmen - Fandom, Lewis pepper - Fandom, MSA, Mystery Skulls, Mystery Skulls Animated, Mystery Skulls Ghost, Vivi Yukino
Genre: Other, Slow Updates, after cave, how do you tag?, reunited, sads will be had
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11767689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Powerless/pseuds/Forever_Powerless
Summary: After reuniting, the gang are on another case! But there's trouble in the ranks...Lewis is not behaving and Vivi is very much not amused.





	Deja Vu

Arthur used to think loneliness and abandonment were the worst thing he could ever feel. Stuck in the back watching his two best friends make Goo-Goo eyes at each other while the dog watched them happily. He thought nothing could make the trip to a case longer.

What he wouldn’t give to have those days back.

Afterwards he thought the emptiness was the worst thing ever. Vivi smiling and appearing happy, but knowing something important was missing. Mystery, unsure of how to act now that he had to use his secret against Arthur in such a way. And Arthur crushed with guilt and pain, but the only one able to drive since Vivi had lost her licence yet again. He’d thought that was the worst thing he could ever feel.

And now the gang was back together, but it wasn’t like before. Lewis was the one stuck in the back, but while he was still making eyes, they were no longer loving, and no longer aimed at Vivi. He could feel the ghost’s constant glare at the back of his head, creeping down his spine and making his left arm  _ ache.  _ The ghost would occasionally make a comment along the lines of 

“Sorry I can’t give you a break, Art,”

Seemingly friendly, but he knew he was really saying: _ You know why I can’t drive. And I’ll NEVER let you forget _ . Vivi knew it too. Every time he said something like that, her hands clenched a little tighter, her face became a little more of a scowl. She was reaching her breaking point...but all she could do was try to calm everything down, right? Keep a smile on her face and keep the peace.

“Come on, Lew. You'll be able to drive again once you've got your other form down! We're working on it, so you'll be able to help Artie out in no time.”

Lewis blinks before forcing on a smile for Vivi, nodding slowly. He couldn't deny being happy about the fact they were working on that, that he would maybe get some of his life back – oh wait, he could  _ never  _ get that back thanks to his best friend.

“Of course, mi arando...”

He says with the grin still on his face even as his eyes slip back over to Arthur, narrowing as the air against their back grows hotter...at least until Vivi rolled down her window, making the ghost yelp as the wind puts out his hair.

“Oh sorry Lewis! I just thought things needed to chill down in here!”

Vivi says as she glances back at him with a wide smile before turning back to face forward again and nudging Arthur's side lightly. He smiles back at her nervously, hunching his shoulders slightly when he hears the irritated grumble from behind them. Thankfully it seemed like Lewis would back off, for now, considering he moved to escape the stronger wind and relight his hair.

“V-vivi it really doesn't seem like a good idea to....to keep antagonizing him. Really I should just-”

“You are not staying home just because my apparent 'boyfriend' is an over dramatic baby. He said he's forgiven you, but he sure isn't acting like it!”

A small sound came from the back, something between anger and disbelief and just a hint of hurt, but it was quiet since Vivi was the one who spoke. There was no way that Lewis was going to say anything against her; he couldn't. She's  _ Vivi,  _ the leader of their group, his amor, their- _ his _ blueberry. Arthur didn't deserve to be able to call her his friend at all....though with as unhappy as Lewis was making Vivi lately, did he deserve to call her his anything either?

Lewis looks down, his skull obviously showing that if he had a mouth, it would be frowning. Nothing made sense lately...they kept saying Arthur didn't kill him – all of them except Arthur himself who just kept saying sorry, the rare times when he could get words out to him. That made it hard to believe it wasn't really in Arthur's plan all along to get rid of him. 

“Alright, we're here!”

Vivi says happily as she jumps out of the van once it was stopped, looking around at the area that they were now in. A large abandoned lumberhouse was in front of them, the van parked just off the dirt path that lead up to it. It looked in pretty bad shape, if the rust on the building as well as the trucks and rotting wooden logs around it were any indicator. Just barely through the trees she could see a small bridge, most likely leading toward the house of the long dead owners.

“Alright boys, I printed us each a map, just in case we got separated. Arthur-”

Vivi turned around with a smile, preparing to hand a folded up map to her friend when she paused. He was curled in on himself, rubbing his shoulder while Lewis stood off to the side of him, looking around and pointedly not at Arthur with his hands behind his back. Her eyes narrow yet she tried to keep the smile on her face.

“Arthur,” her voice had taken on a different tone, more sugary and that instantly made the two boys stand more at attention, “you'll be coming with me while Lewis and Mystery go together!”

“Wha-Vivi, no! You can't go with  _ him.  _ You have to-!”

Lewis started to speak- no,  _ growl _ \- at Arthur before Vivi quickly moved closer and shot him a smile - one forced and clearly cracking as she tries to hold herself back.

“I don’t ‘have to’ do anything, Lew! We’re not dating as far as i remember, and even if we were I know I would never date anyone who tried to tell me what I can and can’t do!”

She kept her smile up, making sure her voice stayed pleasant - huh, those times dealing with unpleasant customers at the bookstore have paid off - even as she narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. She waited, giving Lewis a moment to make his move and nods in approval when his own heated stare dies down and steps back a few feet.

“Now, let’s get to work before it gets dark!”

She says as she turns to Arthur with a much more real grin, holding a map out to him.

“As I was saying before, I printed out one for each of us as a just-in-case. the logging building has a few floors, but because of the state it seems to be in, you and me will stay on the bottom floor and outside just to be safer. The actual death happened in the owner's’ cabin so we’ll check that out last all together.”

She says before turning back to Lewis and holding out a map to him.

“You and Mystery can check the upstairs floors. Sounds good? Great!”

She didn’t give Lewis much of a chance to say anything, not when she saw that his gaze was sliding past her and more toward Arthur with again, before turning to Mystery and using it as an excuse to block Arthur more from Lewis’ gaze. 

“Be careful, Vivi. For both of you. There will most likely be a few wild animals that have taken up residence here, and neither of you are very well...equipped to handle them as well as me or Lewis.”

“Exactly! which is why I should go with Vivi! To protect her! She’s going to be left with a murderer otherwise!”

Lewis immediately speaks up, glaring toward Arthur as his hair flares in his anger, making the other man yelp and duck behind the other side of the van in fear and clutch at his left arm. Lewis growls as he marches forward and just phases through the van to get to Arthur, glaring down at him.

“Just admit it already! You're obviously guilty, since you never say you aren’t! Just admit it so that we can be done with you!” 

“I-I-!”

“Shut up! There is nothing that could come out of your mouth that could fix this!”

Lewis snaps as he reaches out to try and snag Arthur’s shirt, before halting quickly when Vivi forces herself between them, glaring back at the ghost with hardened eyes and a white slip of paper in her hand. It took him a moment to notice the slip but as soon as he did, he took quite a few steps back, looking at Vivi in shock.

“I do not want to use this. I am  _ hoping  _ I do not have to use this. But I  _ will  _ use it if you do not stop  _ threatening  _ my best friend.”

“But he-”

“No. I do not care what you think he did or did not do. I  _ remember  _ him. I do  _ not  _ remember you. I did not even want you to come along. The  _ only  _ reason you are here right now is because Arthur begged for me to let you come. Otherwise you would not only not be here, but also not be anywhere near  _ either  _ of us. I do not care who you used to be. You are obviously not that person anymore. And the person you are now, I would never want to willingly be around.”

Lewis stares at her in disbelief, blinking with wide eyes before looking away as he crosses his arms with a scowl. Vivi had to admit it was a bit impressive how he seemed to be so committed to his temper tantrum that he could make it so obvious he was scowling, even without a jaw. She almost even laughed at it. She actually might have laughed, if Lewis didn’t decide to grumble something - what he actually said, she wasn’t sure, the echo of his voice making it impossible to make out, but she knew it couldn’t have been very nice, since he was so angry.

“Now listen...I get that you aren’t happy. Right now none of us are. And I get that you’re confused and that you  _ think  _ you know what happened. But maybe you should think beyond what you think you know and look at the big picture.”

Vivi says before turning her back on him and taking Arthur’s hand, leading him firmly toward the building. Arthur squeaks softly but quickly moves to follow her, giving a small glance back toward the others before focusing on where he was walking. 

  
  


Vivi was a bit disappointed as she walked back toward the van. They had looked around for hours and didn’t find a thing! The only highlight was that nothing bad had happened, no hidden cults or sudden animal attacks and Arthur had only been scared by dark corners a few times! 

“Well, it’s a good thing we brought food and blankets along. Seems we’ll be spending the night!”

Looking back at Arthur with a grin, she pauses as she saw the look on his face. Strained, tired, guilty...she has only seen that look after Lewis had done something to him that Vivi didn’t happen to notice in time to stop. But Lewis hadn’t come anywhere near them, had he?

It took not even a minute more, just enough time to open the back doors of the van, before Mystery and Lewis were walking out toward them, Mystery trotting a bit faster to get over to Vivi first.

“Did you two see anything?”

“.....No.”

“Ugh, yeah we didn’t see a thing! I’m starting to think this one may be a bust, but we still have the cabin to check tomorrow so I’m not completely down yet….”

“Well I’ve got good news for you, Vivi! While Lewis and I didn’t see anything either, the whole time I felt something’s aura moving around. There must be another ghost somewhere here. The energy wasn’t strong enough at the time for me to track, but it’s here and I think it knows we’re here, too.”

Mystery yelps before he smiles and licks at Vivi’s face when she cheers, throwing her arms up in the air with him in them. If he hadn’t been lifted in Vivi’s arms, he might not have seen the guilty and pained look on Arthur’s face. Didn’t they say nothing had happened? Was Arthur trying to blame himself for nothing showing up? 

“That’s great news! We didn’t come all this way for nothing then!!”

Vivi dances around with Mystery for a bit with happy laughter, before stopping to grin at the others excitedly.

“First thing tomorrow we’ll all check out the cabin across the bridge. Until then, we need to start setting up for the night before it gets to dark.”

She turns to Lewis and Arthur, holding Mystery in her arms as she grins at them - the excitement from the possible case being a real haunting overpowering her annoyance at Lewis so she didn’t try to dim down her smile at all. Even seeing Lewis smile back at her didn’t deter her.

“I’m going to go get firewood, you three stay here. We can’t use the logs here because they are way too big for one, and very rotten, so it’s probably not a good idea to burn them.”

“Are...you sure it’s safe for you to look by yourself?”

“I’m not going to go far, Lewis. I know how to take care of myself. I also know how to scream if I do need help.”

Vivi says before setting Mystery down and petting his head - shooting a pointed look toward Arthur. Mystery leans into the pets and gives a subtle nod before trotting over to Arthur as she left. He laid down at the man’s feet, putting his head on top of one of them and getting comfortable.

It was silent for only a few seconds before Lewis huffs softly and floats away from the van a bit, going to look at one of the closer rusting trucks for just something to do. The ghost getting farther away let Arthur relax a bit more - not very much, but enough that he felt he could move without pissing the other off again. 

The creak of metal made Mystery’s ears twitch before he lifted his head to look up at Arthur, watching in confusion as he detached his arm and laid it across his lap, grabbing his toolbox and dragging it closer.

“Arthur? ...what are you doing?”

“Just some routine maintenance, Mystery. I do this all the time.”

“Yes I know that, but...you just did it last night. It’s at least another day before you do it again normally, unless something happens to it.”

Arthur doesn’t glance at the dog, not wanting to risk meeting those too-old eyes. Afterall, something did happen. But Arthur couldn’t say anything, not without throwing Lewis under the bus - and considering he already pushed the man off a cliff; there was no need for him to do more harm than that

The silence seemed to be enough of an answer though, Mystery narrowing his eyes as he glances toward where Lewis was before looking back at Arthur.

“....what happened Arthur?”

“W-what? Nothing happened, it's fine, just want to make sure it’s ok. There was a lot of dust in there, after all.”

Arthur laughed nervously before quickly swallowing the sound when Lewis turned toward them. He stared at them silently for a few seconds, Arthur staring back just as silently with his screwdriver poised partway into his arm. 

For a minute, Arthur almost thought that Lewis had somehow frozen before he started floating over to them. He tried to keep his small whimper of fear quiet, not wanting to give Lewis any reason to blow up at him. Lewis kept floating closer until he was standing next to Mystery, staring down at Arthur as he ducks his head and hunches his shoulders to try and get even smaller and to look less threatening. Who would have ever thought that a guy like him could be taken as threatening looking?

“I’ve never seen you with your arm off.”

...What? Arthur blinks and risks a glance up at Lewis, surprised at how there was no heat in his words. It honestly sounded like...Lewis was confused. Maybe even curious.

“U-uhm…..I could...do this later. if it’s bothering you.”

“.....Can i watch?”

Ok,  _ what _ ? He had thought Lewis wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him when he didn’t have to, but...now he was basically wanting to sit and watch him work on the replacement for the arm that murdered him. Arthur didn’t think he would be able to speak, even if he got his tongue to unstick from the roof of his mouth, so he just nods his head quickly. He watched silently as Lewis sat on the end of the van next to him before clearing his throat and looking back down at his lap and arm. Just don’t stare at him, don’t do anything different than you normally would, don’t give him a reason to get angry, just enjoy this while you can.

It wasn’t very long, not even 5 minutes have passed - but god did it feel like 3 hours - before the tense silence was broken by something else besides the sound of Arthur's tools.

“It...never really sunk in until now. That you...lost your arm.”

Mystery makes a small huff from where he was laying on Arthur’s feet, eyeing Lewis, who just waves his hand as if brushing away anything Mystery might have said.

“Yes, yes I know you both told me that he did but...I’ve never seen it. I knew your arm wasn’t...right anymore, it’s kind of hard not to notice metal where there should’ve been skin, but….being told by someone else what happened and then actually seeing it on the person it happened to are very different things. I just…”

Lewis frowns, still staring down at the arm and all its exposed wires even though Arthur was now staring up at him with his mouth slightly agape in shock that Lewis was not only talking with him but...it was civil.

“Tell me what happened Arthur. What  _ you  _ remember. You are the only one who hasn’t tried to convince me you hadn’t planned to murder me.”

“Well….would you have believed me if i tried? I mean...I-I still have trouble being able to be around you without you glaring at me-”

Lewis snaps his gaze up from the arm to Arthur with narrowed eyes, making Arthur flinch away.

“S-see, like that! I-I can’t t-talk when everytime I try, you immediately start glaring at me! Y-you know this t-too, I g-get all...all t-tongue-tied when you start glaring at me!”

Lewis growls before looking away with a small mumble, crossing his arms. Arthur was right, which he knew and he hated. Arthur was always good at pointing out things that Lewis didn’t notice, or forcing him to stop ignoring the things that he did. It was one thing he had liked about their friendship, that Arthur wouldn’t let him get away with things just because he didn’t know everything. Yet...that was what he had done with the mansion wasn’t it? The mansion and the truck after, when he had gone off what he thought he knew...and ignored everything he knew about Arthur himself. 

“Fine...I won’t glare or interrupt you while you….explain what happened. Unless it’s obvious bull.”

Arthur frowns slightly and shakes his head before sighing softly as he looked down.

“Fine, sure whatever. So you’re going to call bull on whatever I say, then? Because that’s what it sounds like, since I still doubt you’ll like my answer.”

“So you  _ did  _ plan this!” 

“I never said that! Stop assuming things!! Why would I want to kill you Lewis, I care about you! You’ve been my best friend since we were kids, since before we even knew Vivi! What would I even gain from killing you?!”

Lewis opens his mouth to answer exactly what Arthur could have gained, when Arthur narrows his eyes at him - his fear and worry of the ghost getting angry overpowered by him finally having the chance to speak with the ‘tentative’ promise of no interruptions.

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ say Vivi. Don’t you dare even suggest that I would be so petty or-or horrible to kill you over your choice of girlfriend!”

“Don’t you yell at me!”

“Then don’t think everything is so black and white! You  _ know  _ me, Lewis, we  _ grew up  _ together! You know I hate violence, you know I get jumpy at like, everything!”

Arthur takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair, tugging on the end of the strands as the short burst of his anger faded out.

“Lewis…I helped set you and Vivi up once I realized you liked her. Why would I...why would you think I wouldn’t just...say something?”

“Because you don’t say when something is bothering you. You never want to make us feel bad.”

“Oh so you  _ do  _ still know me. I thought you forgot who I was....”

Lewis flinched in slight shame and looks down, frowning. Arthur was right of course. He still knew Arthur, he knew who he was and how he acted. It just...it didn’t add up. It had to have all been an act. Yet...why would a little kid protect another from some bullies with the plan to just kill him later on in life? Why would Arthur always try to make everyone else happy first if he was just concocting this as a plan?

“....Just tell me what happened that night.”

“It...alright. Do...you remember what Vivi told us for the information about the cave that she found?”

“That...that the bats inside didn’t behave like normal bats and the fog made people think they heard things. And that people did things they couldn’t explain later. But most of those reports were made by local high school kids or people who had been drinking and none of them did anything remotely close to  _ murdering  _ who they were with.”

Arthur sighs and nods before looking down at his arm and starts working on it again, needing the distraction to be able to force himself through finally actually talking about that night.

“...Yeah. We should have given more credit to those reports. I...at first I had started thinking maybe it was just the fog mixed with my nerves. I hadn’t been...feeling that great the few days leading up to that case and I should have said something but...you guys were happy, that was enough for me to be happy for you too. I didn’t want to ruin the road trip for you two. Then again...none of this might of happened if I just spoke up...but the fog. It wasn’t really fog. Or not natural fog at least. I couldn’t...I didn't realize at first what was happening but….there was something in that cave. Something more than just bats.”

Lewis scoffs weakly - weak from knowing that he shouldn’t - with a small eye roll that Arthur ignores.

“How convenient...”

“You said you wouldn’t interrupt. at the time...I don’t know why it...decided to do what it did. Mystery told me later that it was because the spirit was most likely trying to break me so I wouldn’t fit back. I...I didn’t want to hurt you, i never wanted to hurt you Lew-is.”

“Then you-!”

“I know!”

Arthur snaps, shooting a look at the ghost as he once again interrupted, making him shrink back in surprise.

“I know! There was many things I should have done. And I  _ tried  _ alright!? When I realized what was happening, what it planned to do to you, I tried to warn you. I tried to make a sound, to scream, to do  _ anything _ ! I even tried to make myself fall over the side so it wouldn’t be you!”

Lewis blinked with wide eyes at Arthur, flabbergasted. He...had tried to make himself fall? 

“Anything would have been better than you being dead! B-but..but I wasn’t strong enough...I couldn’t...it was planning on going for Vivi next. And by then I couldn’t...I couldn’t fight it. if Mystery hadn’t...saved me when he did, I don’t know if any of us would be here. I...I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t want any of this to happen…”

Arthur sniffs softly as he looks away, scrubbing at his face for a moment before shaking his head.

“That doesn’t matter, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I should have fought harder, I should have done something different, it was my hand that pushed you, it's my fault you're like this I’m so sorry Lewis.”

Lewis was still stunned. even as Arthur started crying in front of him - he had forgotten what Arthur looked like when he cried. he saw it so rarely...because Arthur always made sure to hide it. Even now, he was trying his best to hide that he was crying, keeping his breathing unnaturally even as his tears dripped off his chin.

“Y-you...you’re right to hate me Lewis. You didn’t deserve this. you h-had so much to live for, so many people t-to live for. I’m...I’m so sorry Lewis. I know there’s nothing that I could do to make it up to you and you probably don’t even believe me either but..it’s what happened. I pushed you and killed you and it’s my fault you’re dead and you can never have that back and I can’t fix that ever.”

Lewis stares before letting his gaze drop, letting Arthur have at least the illusion of privacy as he got himself back under control - how different from the last time Lewis caught Arthur crying, immediately going to hug the smaller man and comfort him. how times have changed…

“I...don’t hate you. I..don’t think i ever really hated you. Which is why I was so mad. I...all I knew is that my best friend had pushed me off a cliff right in front of my girlfriend while the last thing I heard was you...laughing and her screams. But….I never hated you. Which is what made ,me even angrier. I couldn’t even hate the man who murdered me.”

Maybe it’s because he never wanted to truly hate Arthur. Because he knew there had to be more to what happened then he thought. Because he couldn’t accept that Arthur, the one who used to protect him from bullies when they were children, was the same one who hated him enough to kill him. Why he couldn’t believe the others when they told him the truth was anyones guess - but it really wasn’t a guess that was needed. It’s always different hearing something from someone else then from the one who truly did, or didn’t, do it.

That was the scene that Vivi came back to - Lewis and Arthur sitting next to each other, one trying to hide his tears and the other obviously torn between trying to comfort or ignore that it was happening.

“What the hell did you do, Lewis?!”

Lewis yelps and shakes his head quickly, jumping and floating away a bit when she threw down the wood in her arms, running over to Arthur and cupping his cheeks as she looks him over for any bruises or burns. Arthur makes a small noise of distress and surprise at the sudden blue in his face and leans back slightly before shaking his head and taking one of her hands in his only hand.

“V-vivi no, no it’s...it’s alright. He didn’t do anything, it’s ok, I’m fin- _ alright _ . I’m alright.”

Vivi’s eyes narrow slightly. She knew what Arthur had been planning on saying...and she knew what ‘fine’ really meant. At least for Arthur, who never wanted to bother others with his problems.

“Ok. if everything is alright, then why are you crying?”

“We just….we talked.”

Vivi huffs softly. she still had a few doubts but glancing down at Mystery, who was still lying across Arthur’s feet and didn’t look like he had been disturbed much. And even if he had been, then he wouldn't look so calm now or would at least be looking slightly more protective of Arthur.

“....Alright. But I’m watching you, mister!”

She says as she rounds to face Lewis with a small glare - her face softening slightly at the look the ghost had. Well...past her at least had good taste in looks. She was still debating on personality. But now, when he wasn’t a flaming ghost of rage and stupidity, he kind of looked a bit like a fluffy purple puppy. ...or maybe a bobble head with the way he was nodding right now. She was honestly a tiny bit concerned for his neck - until she remembered that he couldn’t really hurt it.

“Well...since nothing bad apparently happened, let’s start setting up the fire before it gets much later. Since Arthur needs to finish up with his arm, you’ll help me Lewis?”

Again. Bobble head. At least it seemed like he was willing to be a bit more friendly. So she let it be for now, Lewis floating off a bit to find some stones to put in a circle near the van while Vivi started setting up the wood she had found in a teepee shape as best she could. She was never the greatest at this part, the ones she made always falling over. Now that she thought about it….Arthur’s kind of sucked too whenever he made them. But she remembered past haunts they’ve gone to where they need to camp out like this and the fire had been...almost perfect. Had those been when Lewis built them?

“...Do you have a good enough handle on your fire to be able to light this?”

Vivi asks as she glances up at the other. Lewis huffs softly, as if insulted.

“Hey don’t blame me! The only time I’ve ever seen you use your fire it's been all explode-y! Not to mentioned aimed to hit my best friend, so excuuuuse me if i’m worried about your control of your abilities.”

Lewis tried to hide his flinch. Especially since it reminded him of the night they finally found him...he hadn’t meant to explode like that. He really hadn’t, not even from how angry he had been at Arthur had meant to ever put Vivi in danger. The just...sudden pain from his anchor, paired with the anger he already had and then the added anger of Arthur taking Vivi away from him? It all had to come out somehow. He hesitates before being sure to keep his fire under control as he lights a small ball in his hand, tossing it into the middle of the wood - making sure he kept it weak enough that it wouldn’t explode or anything….which admittedly took a bit more concentration than he thought it would.

“Did...I ever….apologize for that?”

“Nope.”

Vivi pops the ‘p’ as she gets up, walking away to the van. She knew she should get a sorry for herself but the one who really deserved it was Arthur. He was the one the fire was aimed for after all.

“Then...I’m sor-”

“Let me stop you right there. Words aren’t good enough. Words are never good enough just by themselves. so prove you're sorry instead of just saying it.  _ Prove  _ it to the one who  _ really  _ deserves it.”

Lewis stares after her in surprise before looking down at the fire that was crackling merrily, a small frown on his face. Arthur...he did deserve an apology. He didn’t fully believe that Arthur wasn’t at least a little bit at fault - there was no way whatever possessed him (because okay, maybe something  _ did _ possess him, Arthur had been acting weird the days leading up to that day) had just up and decided that it should use Arthur to kill him. Not without the thought already being inside Arthur’s head. Or else he would have been able to fight it off! But...Lewis could try. For Vivi. To show that he still loved her so that he could stay and protect her from the backstabber - or well, back  _ pusher _ .

“Ok. I’ll prove I’m sorry for almost blowing you all up.”

Well at least it was a start. Vivi would take what she could get. Especially right now when she was starving and didn’t want to deal with much more tonight until she slept and ate - preferably in the opposite order.

“Alright! Let’s get to cookin so we can get to eatin!”

She cheers as she pulls out their food - two containers of cup of noodles and a small pan out, a water bottle being pulled out next.

“Ok, give me a minute to reconnect my arm and I can hold the pot.”

Arthur speaks up as he works at reattaching the limb. He was normally the one to keep the pot steady when cooking outdoors, since he would be able to hold it without working at it, or it being too heavy and his arm getting tired. It was useful sometimes, thankfully. And if he could do anything to make it easier for Vivi, then he would without a second thought….even if sometimes that was something as mundane as holding a pot of water over a fire.

Lewis stared silently from the edge as Arthur and Vivi did what they needed, watching as they worked together and then just sat next to each other and waited for the water to boil. It was...it was so like before. So close but yet...so  _ wrong  _ now. Arthur shouldn’t be that close to her. Vivi shouldn’t want to be so close to him. Lewis….Lewis should be in there with them. Lewis  _ missed  _ being there with them, being able to smile at Vivi and her actually want to smile back, to cook actual good food for them all, to be able to crack jokes with Arthur even. 

Too bad someone had to take it all away and ruin it for everyone else.

He was lost in thought for a while, unknowingly ruining the slightly relaxed tone the night had taken since his gaze was still on the two living humans.  Arthur quickly became uncomfortable and squirmed at his place by the fire.  He slowly shortened his speaking to one or two words - and that's only when Vivi directly said something that needed a reply instead of him offering one up willingly. It wasn’t until Arthur retreated to the van - barely half of his noodles eaten - that Lewis even noticed what he had been doing or how late and dark it had gotten.

And then he noticed Vivi’s  _ look _ . Not quite a glare, but not really just a passing glance either. If he didn’t know better, he would think she had been taking lessons from his Mom.

“What? I didn’t do anything this time!”

“This time? What do yo-no, I can’t deal with that right now. one thing at a time Vivi…”

Vivi sighs and rubs at her temples, feeling a headache starting to grow. Hopefully she could fall asleep before it got to bad and kept her up…

“You were  _ staring  _ Lewis. Almost glaring even. So you know, kiiiind of messing up dinner. Arthur didn’t even finish eating, again, because of it. Just….whatever. Don’t do that please. I’m tired. I’m going to bed. Take care of the fire whenever you’re….done with it.”

Vivi says as she waves a hand and sighs again before heading to the van herself and climbing into the back - closing one of the doors to kill some of the light but leaving the other open to allow the warm fire-air to float in.

Lewis stares after her silently before looking down with a frown. He honestly, for once, hadn’t meant to make Arthur uncomfortable. He had just been thinking. Could...he not even think without seeming like he was going to kill someone?

Lewis shook his head quickly with a small growl.

Not just  _ someone _ . Arthur. His murderer. Not a random someone.

…..Why didn’t that make him feel a whole lot better?


End file.
